1881.] PRACTICAL VEGETARIANISM IN FRANCE. the hour or two including sunrise and sunset, because about sunset the air cools, and the vapors which the heats of the day have caused to ascend far above us, condense and settle near the surface of the earth, so as to be breathed by the inhabitants; as the night grows colder, these vapors sink lower, and are within a foot or two of the earth, so they are not breathed. As the sun rises these same vapors are warmed, and begin to ascend, to be breathed again; but, as the air becomes warmer, they are carried so far above our heads as to be innocuous. Thus it is that the old citizens of Charleston, S. C., remembered that while it was considered important to live in the country during the summer, the common observation of the people originated the custom of riding into town, not in the cool of the evening or of the morning, but in the middle of the day. They did not understand the philosophy, but they observed the fact that those who came to the city at midday remained well, while those who did so early or late suffered from it. All strangers at Rome are cautioned not to cross the Pontine marshes after the heat of the day is over. Sixteen of a ship's crew, touching at one of the West India islands, slept on shore several nights, and thirteen of them died of yellow fever in a few days, while of two hundred and eighty, who were freely ashore during the day, not a single case of illness occurred. The marshes above named are crossed in six or eight hours, and many travelers who do it in the night are attacked with mortal fevers. This does, at first sight, seem to indicate that night air is unwholesome, at least in the localities of virulent malarias, but there is no direct proof that the air about sunrise and sunset is not that which is productive of the mischief. For the sake of eliciting the observations of intelligent men, we present our theory on this subject. A person might cross these marshes with impunity, who would set out on his journey an hour or two after sundown, 267 and finish it an hour or two before sunup, especially if he began that journey on a hearty meal, because, in this way, he would be traveling in the cool of the night, which coolness keeps the malaria so near the surface of the earth as to prevent its being breathed to a hurtful extent.-Exchange. IN PRACTICAL VEGETARIANISM FRANCE.—A vegetarian society has been founded in Paris, and has just issued its first Bulletin, in which we are told that the object of the society is to discover the "elementary regimé most advantageous to the human species." Vegetarianism ought to commend itself to many French people, with whom "rosbif" and "bifteck' are not the institution that they are in England. Indeed the great bulk of the French lower and lower middle classes, like the peasantry and the bulk of the working classes in Scotland, are vegetarians without being conscious of it, and probably more from necessity than choice. The Paris society has been founded by Dr. Hureau de Villeneuve, who, as he tells us, in an eloquent article in the Bulletin, became a vegetarian on account of repeated attacks of rheumatism, from which several of his ancestors had died. After some years of exclusively vegetarian regimé, the Doctor has got rid of all traces of rheumatism, and his health is completely restored. In his article he presents the usual, and some additional, arguments for vegetarianism with much force, maintaining that of this system, and with due attention to exercise, we should be healthy, strong, vigorous, and intelligent. Many men, he points out, notable for their moral and intellectual energy and physical vigor, have been vegetarians; among others, Pythagoras, Plutarch, Newton, Milton, B. St. Pierce, Franklin, Monthyon, who all lived to an old age. President Lincoln, he tells us, whose stature was gigantic, his muscular force colossal, and his energy indomitable, eschewed all animal food. [Of this we were not aware. Is it true?-ED. P. J.] The moral seems to be that each man ought to find out what suits himself. No doubt vegetarianism, with which M. de Villeneuve includes milk, butter, cheese, and eggs, would make life much brighter for many dyspeptics and rheumatics. — Pall Mall Gazette. VIRTUE OF A TEMPERATE LIFE. Mr. P. T. Barnum, whom everybody knows, has just recovered from an attack of illness which would have proved serious enough to a young man, and would have consigned to the "narrow house" nineteen out of twenty men over sixty years of age. But Mr. Barnum is over seventy, and attributes his convalescence to his regular, abstemious life. He says: "I have kept clear of liquor and tobacco through life, and have not an organic disease in my whole body." NOTES IN SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. The Lunar Display in Colorado. -Western papers have given full accounts of the extraordinary lunar phenomena of February 14. A correspondent of the Illustrated Christian Weekly describes it vividly thus: "The evening of February 14 found the thermometer at nineteen below zero. The fire companies of Denver brought out their engines in early evening to extinguish a fire that was raging at the eastern verge of the city, only to find the conflagration down across the plains-the fire of a glorified full moon. For hours thereafter thousands of people forgot the keen, still air in watching a panorama of meteoric marvels spread in the sky. "Mock moons stood sentinel by the queen of night, two on either side, more intense in color than the moon itself. After a little each of these was surmounted by a brilliant bow. These bows faded, to gradually give place to double halos of lovely violet tint. 66 By the time the moon had reached twothirds the way to the zenith, these phenomena were all gone, and another appeared of far greater brilliancy and magnificence. Faint bands of pink stretched horizontally from the moon to two mock moons in whose huge blazing fires played the prismatic tints of the first rainbow. Then a distinct band of pink outlined a circle round the zenith which enclosed one-fourth of the visible heavens; the narrow band passing directly through the center of the moon itself and three other moons, a faint one at the farthest western point on the circle, and two others at equal distances from these, the circle being thus intersected by four moons and the two slanting prisms on either side of the actual luminary. From these prisms an occasional loop of faint light drooped to the edge of the horizon. "In the center of the large circle about the zenith, in the very holy of holies, hung a small crescent in the seven colors-a perfect lunar rainbow. "So impressive a scene has rarely been painted on the always wonderful heavens. And though we may calmly study it and recognize only physical cause and effect-though savants may analyze laws of optics and me- Antiquities in New Mexico.-The walls of some of the old ruins at Abo are six feet of solid stone-lime and red sand; the walls in places are yet six feet in height, and in a state of perfect preservation. In the ruins are found vessels of various designs and sizes made of pottery, some representing birds and animals. Stone hammers are found there, but no indications that sharp-edged tools were used in this ancient period. In digging down one place the remains of an old aqueduct were found, which was probably used, as in the present day, by the Mexicans for supplying the inhabitants with water. It is thought and believed, from specimens. of ore found, that gold, silver, and copper were found in paying quantities. All the rock is more or less copper stained, and some of it is so much so that some of the "country" rock has run as high as 37 per cent. copper. Surely our bright, sunny land has been enjoyed long before the Anglo-Saxon made his appearance upon the scene. The future of New Mexico can only be surmised. New Mexico is perhaps the most noted country in the world for research. The historian, the wealth-seeker, and the "curious can here find a rich field and reward for their labor. The Abo and Gran Quivira counties. are perhaps the most renowned in the territory for research. In the former there are evidences of great volcanic eruptions which overwhelmed cities and buried the inhabitants in ashes and lava long ages ago. It is evident that these people, who are perhaps older than the Aztecs, were a prosperous race, with not a little advance in civilization, as the Abo ruins in the Manzana Mountains indicate; also some indications of fine-art; rude figures and the images of animals being found upon the interior of the walls of the structures beneath the débris. 1881.] NOTES IN SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE. It is evident that this non-historic race were seekers after mineral, and evidences also exist that mineral was obtained by them in pay. ing quantities, there being the ruins of many old smelters and acres of slag found near Abo. Here mines are found with the timbers so rotten with age that great difficulty is experienced and danger incurred in going down into the old shafts, where shafts are formed. Petroleum in Italy.-According to a recent report, mineral oil similar to that of Pennsylvania has lately been pumped in the Valley Cocco, in the Abruzzi, and also at Riva-Nazzano, near Voghera, in Piedmont, and it is believed that after a few months' digging the oil springs themselves will be found. The American mode of extracting the oil is used, and some expert Canadians are employed on the work by an ItaloFrench company formed at Paris. The pumps 269 trees are cultivated, is the insect thus commonly named, says A. S. Fuller, in the Hub. It was described by Thomas Say, some fifty years ago, under the name of Saperda bivittata, or two-striped Saperda, but our entomologists have since ascertained that this same insect had previously been described by Fabricius, a European entomologist, under the name of S. candida. According to the laws of priority, therefore, adopted by scientists, the latter name must stand, although the name given to it by Mr. Say, bivittata, appears to be the most appropriate. The beetle is slightly less b Two-STRIPED APPLE-TREE BORER. are worked by steam, and the whistle of the engine is now heard where not long ago the shepherd's pipe was the only sound that broke the silence of the valley. As long ago as 1866, some Italians were ready to seek for petroleum in these localities, but were forced to desist from want of means. An illustrious geologist has asserted that there are many valleys in Italy rich in this oil, and several specimens of native petroleum exist in the geological cabinet of the museum at Milan. Companies are being formed to prosecute this industry, which must prove very profitable, for there is a tax of fifty per cent. on the American oil, and expenses of transport equal to twenty per cent. Unappropriated Lands in the UNITED STATES.-There remains yet unsurveyed over one thousand million acres of public lands, enough to furnish one-hundredacre farms to ten million families. Last year 9,655,936 acres were sold to settlers. At this rate, one hundred years will elapse before the entire area is appropriated. A vast domestic commerce will grow up in these new States, in the development of which, rather than foreign commerce, is to be found our true and permanent national greatness. To contest with other nations for a share of the world's commerce, means to reduce labor to the lowest point of subsistence, rather than to elevate it to the highest possible plane of development. One consumer in our own country will buy more than ten consumers gained in a struggle for foreign trade. Two-striped Apple-tree Borer. -One of the greatest pests of the apple orchard in almost every locality where apple than one inch long (see c). The body is white; thorax and wing-covers light brown, with two white lines extending from the head the entire length of both, as shown. The female Saperda deposits her eggs near the base of the stems of the tree, where the bark is thin and soft. These eggs hatch, and the young borers penetrate the solid wood, and, if not disturbed, will sometimes entirely girdle the tree and cause its death. It is supposed that the grubs or borers (see a, representing their caterpillar stage) remain in the tree three years before reaching maturity, passing the while through their metamorphoses, and then again emerging as beetles. This pest does not confine itself to the appletree, but infests the white thorns (Cratagus), quince, and mountain ash. Both nurserymen and orchardists must be on their guard, therefore, lest this pest should become too numerous. Trees standing in an orchard can be protected by keeping the lower part of the stem encased in tar-paper or some similar protector. How to make a Comfortable HOUSE.-A Western correspondent of the New York Tribune offers the following good suggestions to those building houses in our changeable climate: Having erected a balloon frame, and adjusted the studding for the reception of the door and window frames, with a firm foundation, nail boards to the foot of the studs outside and in, not driving the nails so that they can not be readily drawn, and fill in between the boards with a mixture of one part lime to sixteen parts coarse gravel-the mortar containing, of course, no stones of larger diameter than the width of the studs or the space be tween the boards nailed to them-and so continue to do, nailing on boards and filling in till night. The next morning the nails may be drawn, and the boards raised and nailed on again if the weather has been warm and dry, as the mortar by that time will have set, so as not to need their support; if the weather has been damp, a longer time will be required. Continue in this way until a height has been reached equal at least to that of the first story. Next nail strips of lath to the studs on the outside, insert the door and window frames, and proceed to side up the house. A cheap, warm, and durable siding may be made from first quality fencing, matched, and nailed on with the tongues up. "Having sided the house, plaster, without lathing, upon the wall, which by this time will have become a solid stone. We now have a house with space of about one-third of an inch between the stone and the siding (too narrow for mice), filled with dead air. The heat of the room during the day, of course, warms the stone walls, about four inches thick, and the warmth is retained during the night, the dead air between the wall and siding preventing the escape of the heat. I have tested the above, in the house in which I now live, for about ten years, during which I have kept no fires at night, and have found no frost gathered upon the wall, even in the coldest weather, except white specks upon the heads of the nails driven into the base or mopboard. As the mortar can be mixed and filled in by the cheapest kind of help, the extra cost above that of an ordinary balloon frame house will not much exceed what is saved in the expense of lathing, and this is richly repaid in the increased comfort of the occupants of such a house.-C. C. BAYLEY, Grant Co., Wis." President Garfield on AgriculTURE. In the course of his inaugural, our new President said: "The interests of agriculture deserve more attention from the Government than they have yet received. The farms of the United States afford homes for more than one-half our people, and furnish much the largest part of all our exports. As the Government lights our coasts for the protection of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it should give to the tillers of the soil the lights of practical science and experience." To Cheese Eaters.-In the New York Legislature it was lately stated by a member that cheese was now largely adulterated with lard. This pig product is substituted in place of cream or butter oil. To 100 pounds of milk are added 1 pounds of lard. Steamrendered lard is considered better than kettlerendered. By the best process it requires six to eight hours to render it. One will get 4 pounds of cream from 100 pounds of milk and this 4 pounds is one-third caseine, so that about 2 pounds out of 100 is real oil. Therefore, 100 pounds of skim milk and i pounds of lard will make 10 pounds of cheese. 1881.] SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS. FOWLER & WELLS, Proprietors. H. S. DRAYTON, A.M., Editor. N. SIZER, Associate. A NEW YORK, MAY, 1881. SCHOOL EXAMINATIONS. CORRESPONDENT of a New England paper complains of the harmful influence of school examinations on children, and we think with excellent reason. The methods in practice in most of the public schools of our Eastern cities appear to have for their chief object the forcing of pupils along the curriculum of study as rapidly as possible, giving their immature and sensitive minds no rest, no opportunity for healthful reaction. We have children who have attended several "crack" schools, and know therefore something about how matters are. One leading aim on the part of a teacher is to carry a class, it may be of forty or fifty children, over a certain number of pages of arithmetic, geography, history, spelling, etc., within a certain number of weeks. And success in this grand effort against the laws of mind and body is measured according to the number of scholars who can worry through the examinations which follow that certain number of weeks. When the time for closing a half year's work comes, and promotion is in view, how 271 excited the girls and boys are! They can think of nothing but the examinations, and their homes are made scenes of anxiety and dread for a week or two. We have known highly organized children to be thrown into serious illness from sheer exhaustion at this period. And we have advised many a parent not to risk the health of a delicate girl in the unnecessary and injurious strife. We believe in moderate processes for the education of the young. A child can not be hurried through a tex-book and become well-grounded in its rules. What is quickly learned with the young is quickly forgotten, because such learning is usually but memorizing without understanding. Our children bring home fine reports of their standing, the hundreds predominating, but we have found when we questioned them that the rudimentary principles of arithmetic or grammar and their early studies in geography were by no means clearly defined in their intelligence. The important work of education is to develop the youthful mind into a vigorous and active perception of truth. It seems to be regarded, however, by those who manage the affairs of most of our schools, that education means crowding the young mind with a miscellaneous jumble of rules, names, numbers, and phrases; graduated, intelligent progress. in study being, as it were, counted out of the question. We are not opposed to well-conducted, appropriate examinations; not at all, they are essential to thoroughness; but we certainly deem the customary examinations of public schools inadequate and harmful, morally and physically, to the majority of the children who are forced to submit to them. |